In the last two days I've cleaned out the pantry, the fridge and under the sink and have decluttered two kitchen cupboards. I've taken 'the pile' of throwouts to the op shop. And I still have plans for folding the towels properly on their shelf and going through the pile of paper on my desk.

What's been the motivation? Quite simply, my mother.

She's coming to stay for two nights this week and I'm embarrassed by the state of the kitchen.

When I look at it with my eyes I think, "Oh, it'll do." As soon as I start looking at it with her eyes, I see grot and grime and a plastics cupboard that is just a disaster. 

One part of me knows that I should get over it. I should be able to say, "Well, that's my cupboard, and that's fine," and not worry about what mum thinks. Another part of me says, "Well, it is grotty and I could definitely do better." And another part of me, the pragmatic part says, "You might as well make the most of it. At least you've got a tidy pantry now. Would you have done it for any other reason?"

It's true. I'm pretty pleased with the pantry now. And by decluttering, I realised that I have been buying way too much gluten free flour. There are also at least four sticks of butter in the fridge that are excess. My shopping will be leaner and meaner over the next few weeks.

So what's your motivation to declutter? Even if it's not the greatest motivation, like being embarrassed by your mum seeing your grotty life, use it anyway and enjoy the results.